Fuse



Patented Nov. 21, 1944 FUSE Joseph H. Church, Austin, Minn, and Gregory J. Kessenich, Madison, Wis.

Application February 6, 1940, Serial No. 317,557

(Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 370 0. G. 757) 1 Claim.

ing of the fuse casing and frequently the safety member .protrudes from the fuse while the projectile is still in the bore of the gun barrel.

The purpose of this invention is to provide a bore safety member which may be inexpensively made and applied, which occupies a minimum space so as to reduce the height of the fuse and increase the available space for explosive, and.

which dispenses with the use of springs.

The invention resides in providing a bore safe fuse in which the outer end of a barrier or safety member remains stationary or restrained against radial movement and in which the inner portion moves transversely or radially under the influence of centrifugal force to release an element of a firing mechanism.

The specific nature of the invention as well as other objects and advantages thereof will clearly appear from a description of a preferred embodiment as shown in the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the improved fuse;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing a modification;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of another form embodying the principles of the invention;

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view showing the barrier of Fig. 4 on its side;

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of another modification;

Fig. 7 is a sectional View on the line 1-1 of Fig. 6. 7

Referring to Fig. 1 there is shown a projectile comprising a body 5 chambered to receive a main explosive charge 6 and having an open mouth for receiving a fuse casing 1 which is conveniently secured by a threaded connection 8.

The rear portion of the fuse casing is formed with a chamber 9 which is closed at its rear end by a plug. H] which may be threadedly attached and which centrally carries a primer H. The front face of the plug is spaced from the floor I 2 of the chamber 9 to provide a space for a safety member or barrier I3.

j The barrier shown in Fig. l is representative of a great variety of forms being characterized by a supported outer portion and an unsupported inner portion. In the illustration the barrier comprises a V-shaped member which is disposed between the plug ID and a collar M on a firing pin l5 which has a point I6 positioned between the arms of the V-shaped member and over the primer l I. As shown in Fig. 2 the three outer ends I! of the v-shaped barrier engage the wall I 8 of the chamber and are supported and restrained against radial movement. The wall I8 may be formed with a slot or notch IQ for each of the ends I! in order to hold the bar rier against angular displacement. When the closed end is anchored the outer ends may be free and spaced from the wall IS.

.The forward edges of the V-shaped barrier l3 may be oppositely beveled as at 20 to engage in complementarily shaped grooves 2| in the collar It of the firing pin. The beveled edges are directed forwardly and axially so that radial movement of the barrier will result in first camming the firing pin forwardly. In order to allow for such movement of the firing pin the fuse casing is formed with a recess 22.

The firing pin is slidably mounted and guided in a passage 23 in the fuse casing. In a supersensitive fuse an enlarged head 24 is fixed to the front extremity of the firing pin and is housed in a recess 25 in the nose of the fuse casing in a manner which will permit its rearward movement.

In operation, on firing the projectile from a rifled barrel, the inertia of the firing pin causes it to set back and to firmly hold the V-shaped barrier against displacement. During rotation of the projectile the arms of the V-shaped barrier will move radially under the influence of centrifugal force, initially camming the firing pin forwardly and then moving clear of the collar I4 to release the firing pin.

While the barrier is illustrated as a V-shaped member, this is representative only, as it may have any shape, for example, various letters of the alphabet, numerals, or geometrical designs. The restraint of the outer portion may be provided as shown in Fig. 3 by anchoring a barrier 26 in the plug 21 by means of a non-circular stem 28. spaced from the wall of the chamber. In the modification shown in Fig. 4 the barrier consists of a pair of oppositely disposed members each of which comprises an angled or bent member 30 which may rest on its .folded portions 3| as shown in Fig. 4 or on its side as shown in plan in Fig. 5 in which the parts are similarly numbered. The outer end of each member is restrained by contact with the wall of the fuse casing 32 or it may be anchored as shown in Fig. 3.-

The inner portion 33 is disposed in the ,path -of the firing pin 34 while the intermediate portions In this illustration the free end 29 may be the barrier comprises a spiral member 38 which may be of spring or permanently deformable material, that is, material which will. yield and remain in its new position. The outer coil is restrained or confined as by the wall of the fuse casing 39 while the spaced inner coil or coils which are normally in the path of the firing pin 40 will, under the influence of centrifugal force,

amwind to form coils of larger radius and move out of the path of the firing pin. The front end of the fuse casing is closed by an easily ruptury able disk 41 as is well understood in the art.

35 constitute deformable elements which are tightly folded When subjected to the influence of centrifugal force. The inner portions 33 may include extensions 35 each of which will engage the opposite barrier member. The inner portions 33 may also engage in notches or grooves 31 of the firing pin.

In operation the sections of the bent barrier membe move transversely and radially under the influence of centrifugal force to withdraw the inner portion 33 from the path of the firing pm.

In order to facilitate and insure this action the folded portions 3| may be weakened where the material "is of a. relatively stiff material. The folding action may be regulated by the character of the material, the formation of the fold, or by employing a material having resiliency.

In the modification shown in Figs. 6 and 7 30 .It'will :of course be obvious that. any of the barrier members may be weighted to increase the mass that is to be-acted on by centrifugal force.

We claim:

A "fuse 'for projectiles comprising a body mem ber, a primer and a striker in said member, means in. the body member defining a path providing for relative motion between the striker and primer, and 'a V-shaped'm'ember having its arms positioned in the 'said' path' between the striker and primer to. inhibit the said relative motion and having its three extremities in contact with the inner walls of the body member, the arms of said V-shaped member adapted to diverge under centrifugal forceto quit the said path of said relative motion between the striker and primer.

JOSEPH H. CHURCH. GREGORY J. 'KESSEN-ICH. 

